Welding Tips and Tricks

Have been practicing running some beads on 1/8" steel. Find that as I approach the edged of the steel I am burning through. Is there anyway to prevent this ? I am using 6013 rods at 65 amps. Thanks...Rickzzz

That's pretty normal... the heat runs out of anywhere to go.

You can back up the end with a piece of copper, brass, or aluminum, to act as a heat sink as well as puddle support.

You can also stop your weld short of the edge, and "spot" in the last 1/4" or so.

Steve S

Will this help perhaps, since you are just practicing, apply a larger amount of spot or tack weld on the end or edge of the plate or joint you will be welding then when you reach the end of your pass, pause a little bit then move forward a little then let go. Just continue practicing and in no time you will be able to control applying welds at the end or edge of your plate without burning thru.

Rickzzz.

During welding of test plates and in production welds, often temporary run off tabs are put on both ends of the joint.

Examples:

http://www.odysseyyachts.com/Odyssey_Ya ... mage_3.png

http://www.awssection.org/uploads/syrac ... resize.jpg

Alexa

I bought a cheap HF copper spoon and clamp on the end when I do not want to grind away extra metal or get burn through.